Raven salutes our fantasy football league champions

It’s almost time for the Super Bowl – a bonanza for marketers, beer drinkers and football fans alike! Seeing as many of us Ravens are all three, we’re pretty excited.

Way back in the summer of 2011, we started a few fantasy football leagues that have been the source of lots of fun and smack talk throughout the season. Since then, three Raven fans have scrapped, traded, and yelled at their TVs (we imagine) to emerge victorious as the winners of their leagues.

What better time to introduce them than the biggest football weekend of the year?

Dustin Thompson

Online Marketing Consultant at Konnected InteractiveFantasy team: Konnected MinneapolisStrategy: I was in four leagues this year so my main strategy was to try and draft as many of the same players as I could across leagues (which was nearly impossible) so I wouldn’t be competing against myself. I’m a fantasy football geek, so by Monday morning I would always know who I wanted to pick up that week.Star players: Rob Gronkowski is a stud, and I think anyone who had them on their team this year would agree. I also had the luck of drafting Reggie Bush who ended up being a good player for once in his career.Lowest point: I had a pretty up-and-down season and didn’t do as well as I though I would in the regular season. Being that I was in four leagues, I was just happy if I won in half of my games in any given week.Fantasy history: I have been playing fantasy for about 10 years in two leagues. I typically end up at least making my league dues back, and I have won three or four times. I really do it because it makes some of the terribly uninteresting games fun on Sunday afternoon.
Super Bowl pick: I am going with the Giants.

Nate Griffin

Owner, Man of Action Metrics, LLCFantasy team: Chain Smokers (This comes from my days of being a heavy smoker. I don’t smoke anymore, but I still like the team name.)Strategy: I drafted Aaron Rodgers first, and as a Vikings’ fan you have no idea how much that killed me. I thought I could do pretty well with a beast quarterback and a good tight end. I talk very little smack because, again Vikings fan.Star players: Aaron Rodgers, obviously; he had the most points out of everyone on in the league. Percy Harvin was consistent all season, but the real surprise was CJ Spiller. He came on at the end of the year when my two starting running backs were doing nothing.Lowest point: I had the #3 seed in the playoffs, but I thought I lost the first round in week 14. Going into the Sunday Night Seahawks/Rams game I needed Doug Baldwin to get 9 points to win. The most he had in the previous seven weeks was 7 points. I couldn’t even turn the game on. When I checked the score Monday morning and Baldwin had 15 points, I ran around the office.Fantasy history: I’ve played FF for years and this is my first win. I would have a great regular season, and then lose in the semi-finals. I had Tom Brady during his 18-1 season and still couldn’t make the finals. It’s really nice to have that monkey off my back.Super Bowl pick: I think the Giants can win, and they’ve proven it, but Tom Brady is crazy intense during the playoffs and Bellicheck knows how to game plan well. I’m going to say the Patriots will win in a shootout, but if I were a betting man, I’d take the Giants to win and the under.

Samantha Yeargin

Online Media Manager, Goodwill Industries of Middle TennesseeTeam Name: East NastiesStrategy: I took the highest-ranked player available at the draft (unless his name was Peyton Manning). That turned out to be a good move.Star Player: Jacksonville RB Maurice Jones-Drew turned in consistently great numbers, and I had the best Defense/ST in the league (San Francisco).Low Point: The team finished the regular season 7-5, so I didn’t expect to do well in the playoffs. I checked in mostly to see how much I was going to lose by. Also, I had to draft Denver QB Tim Tebow mid-season because both of my quarterbacks had season-ending injuries.Fantasy History: Never played before.Super Bowl pick: Honda, if that YouTube “middle aged Ferris Bueller” clip really is from their Super Bowl ad.